HEASARC Staff Scientist Position - Applications are now being accepted for a Staff Scientist with significant experience and interest in the technical aspects of astrophysics research, to work in the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD. Refer to the AAS Job register for full details.

Search:

[Advanced Search]



NICER Science Nuggets

Each week, the NICER team summarizes important scientific activities or results utilizing data from the NICER mission.

Here are past Science Nuggets listed in reverse chronological order. A list by topic is also available.

2024

2023

2022

  • December
  • November
  • October
    • 27 October 2022: Formation of an X-ray "corona" around a supermassive black hole 3 years after it destroyed a star
    • 20 October 2022: Observing an Outburst from the Fast Radio Burst source SGR 1935+2154 with NICER
    • 13 October 2022: OHMAN Alerts NICER to an Unprecedented Celestial Explosion
    • 06 October 2022: X-ray/Radio Correlation Probes Jet Outflows in High-Mass X-ray Binaries
  • September
  • August
    • 25 August 2022: A New Outburst from a Rosetta Stone Pulsar
    • 18 August 2022: NICER Tracks a Faint, Distant, Short-lived Pulsar Outburst
    • 11 August 2022: NICER reveals the anomalous fast orbital expansion of the eclipsing pulsar SWIFT J1749.4-2807
    • 4 August 2022: Eclipses reveal more than they conceal
  • July
    • 28 Jul 2022: NICER Reveals The Shocking and Explosive Nature of the Superstar Eta Carinae
    • 21 Jul 2022: Accretion features on display in an eclipsing pulsar system
    • 14 Jul 2022: Further NICER insights into X-ray bursts and their effects on accretion disks
    • 7 Jul 2022: A Pulsar's Eccentric Orbital Habit
  • June
    • 30 Jun 2022: NICER monitors thermonuclear outbursts in a neutron star binary
    • 23 Jun 2022: NICER discovers its 2nd accreting millisecond pulsar in two weeks
    • 16 Jun 2022: NICER discovers millisecond pulsations from the new transient MAXI J1816-195
    • 9 Jun 2022: Probing absorption of X-rays in a neutron-star binary
    • 2 Jun 2022: Sub-Second Synchrony for SS Cygni
  • May
    • 26 May 2022: Reactivation of 4U 1730-22 Observed by NICER
    • 19 May 2022: Observing a Pulsar and Finding Oxygen Around Earth
    • 12 May 2022: NICER Disentangles Adjacent X-ray Emitters
    • 05 May 2022: NICER Feeds a Reverberation Machine
  • April
    • 28 April 2022: Assessing the stability of Nature's best clocks
    • 21 April 2022: An X-ray outburst from a radio-loud magnetar after 13 years of quiescence
    • 14 April 2022: NICER's Cosmic Calibration
    • 7 April 2022: NICER Confirms X-ray "Heartbeats" from IGR J17091-3642
  • March
  • February
    • 17 February 2022: NICER Helps Solve a Hot Neutron Star Puzzle
    • 10 February 2022: Accreting on the edge: Witnessing accretion regime transitions on a magnetized neutron star
    • 03 February 2022: Using reflection to constrain the radius of a neutron star
  • January

2021

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
    • 26 August 2021: MAXI Triggers NICER Observations of a Superburst's After-effects
    • 19 August 2021: Continued NICER monitoring of the recurrent nova RS Oph
    • 12 August 2021: NICER Observes the Rare Recurring Nova RS Ophiuchi
    • 05 August 2021: The Changing X-ray Colors of a Spinning White Dwarf
  • July
    • 29 July 2021: NICER Tracks Recovery from a Long-duration Thermonuclear Burst on a Neutron Star
    • 22 July 2021: NICER Glimpses a Newborn Compact Object 200 million Light Years Away
    • 15 July 2021: NICER Confirms a Neutron Star Resides in the Historical X-ray Binary 4U 1730-22
    • 08 July 2021: NICER Connects the Dots in Accretion States of Black Hole Binaries
    • 01 July 2021: Successful Verification Test of OHMAN Software
  • June
    • 24 June 2021: NICER Observes the Brightest Black Hole Transient in Over a Decade
    • 17 June 2021: Limiting Pulsar Mountains
    • 10 June 2021: A new magnetar, Swift J1555.2-5402, confirmed and monitored with NICER
    • 03 June 2021: NICER Captures the Likely Launch of a Wind by a Supermassive Black Hole
  • May
    • 27 May 2021: Successful Application of NICER's New Sky Scanning Capability
    • 20 May 2021: NICER's first public Data Analysis and Science Workshop
    • 13 May 2021: Parity Purity
    • 06 May 2021: X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies
  • April
  • March
    • 25 March 2021: NICER teams up with multi-wavelength facilities to study the Galactic black hole system MAXI J1820+070
    • 18 March 2021: NICER Captures the Formation of an X-ray "Corona" around a Supermassive Black Hole after it Shreds a Star
    • 11 March 2021: A NICER First Look at the New X-ray Transient IGR J17533-2928
    • 04 March 2021: NICER Probes Unusual Accretion Conditions
  • February
  • January

2020

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
    • 24 September 2020: NICER observes a very bright X-ray flare from an accreting supermassive black hole 400 Million Years Ago
    • 17 September 2020: NICER reveals that the X-ray transient MAXI J1348-630 is a Likely Black Hole X-ray binary
    • 10 September 2020: A NICER View of the 2020 outburst of PSR J1846-0258
    • 03 September 2020: NICER Observations of Swift J1818.0-1607: a Missing Link between Magnetars and Rotation-Powered Pulsars
  • August
  • July
    • 30 July 2020: AM Her: The X-ray-Optical Connection
    • 23 July 2020: NICER Finds a Black Hole in MAXI J1727-203
    • 16 July 2020: NICER Observations of Stellar Death by Black Hole
    • 09 July 2020: Type-B QPO detected in NICER observation of MAXI J1348-630
    • 02 July 2020: A long-duration X-ray burst from IGR J17062-6143
  • June
    • 25 June 2020: eROSITA points NICER to a rare X-ray binary outburst in the Large Magellanic Cloud
    • 18 June 2020: Short-duration milliHertz QPO seen in 4U 1636-53
    • 11 June 2020: Paper examines link between outbursts and reflares in transient LMXBs
    • 04 June 2020: NICER celebrates 3 years in space
  • May
    • 28 May 2020: Recent MAXI alert likely triggered by accreting X-ray binary MAXI J0911-655
    • 21 May 2020: B(e) X-ray binary system GRO J1008-57 caught in an outburst
    • 14 May 2020: NICER observes a compact binary in outburst
    • 07 May 2020: NICER detection of the burst forest from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154
  • April
    • 30 April 2020: The NICER-NuSTAR view of the Neutron Star Low-mass X-ray Binary 4U 1735-44
    • 23 April 2020: Significant NICER presence at recent virtual physics meeting
    • 16 April 2020: The Sudden Re-appearance of Eta Carinae
    • 09 April 2020: NICER observes an outburst of the Rapid Burster
    • 02 April 2020: NICER watches as the Moon blocks the Crab pulsar
  • March
    • 26 March 2020: A new magnetar, Swift J1818.0-1607, offers clues to neutron star evolution
    • 19 March 2020: Thermonuclear X-ray bursts reveal that Swift J1858.6-0814 hosts a neutron star
    • 12 March 2020: X-ray flaring in MAXI J1820+070 probes emission near black hole
    • 05 March 2020: NICER results on PSR J0030+0451 prompt further studies
  • February
  • January
    • 30 January 2020: NICER observes the unusual black hole binary MAXI J0637-430
    • 23 January 2020: NICER catches a "Changing-Look AGN" in the process of changing
    • 16 January 2020: Highest frequency QPOs seen by NICER to date reported from EXO 1846-031
    • 09 January 2020: NICER observes Betelgeuse in response to recent dimming
    • 02 January 2020: Theorists speculate on implications of NICER's recent key result

2019

  • December
  • November
  • October
    • 31 October 2019: NICER detects multiple bursts from neutron star MAXI J1807+132
    • 24 October 2019: NICER discovers pulsations from new transient Swift J1845.7-0037
    • 17 October 2019: Recent AGN flare a member of a new class of transients
    • 10 October 2019: New X-ray pulsars point to the future of pulsar physics
    • 03 October 2019: NICER seeks detection of periodicity from re-awakened XTE J1739-285
  • September
    • 26 September 2019: An evolving broad iron line from the first Galactic ultraluminous X-ray pulsar, Swift J0243.6+6124
    • 19 September 2019: Unexpected changes detected in burst behavior from SAX J1808.4-3658
    • 12 September 2019: SAX J1808.4-3658 delayed-helium bursts seen in exquisite detail
    • 05 September 2019: NICER makes its first detection of a GRB afterglow
  • August
    • 29 August 2019: Peering into a clouded black hole
    • 22 August 2019: NICER reveals the intricacies of the innermost accretion disk in an ultra-compact X-ray binary
    • 15 August 2019: NICER observes a secondary peak in a thermonuclear burst from 4U 1608-52
    • 08 August 2019: NICER tracks a new outburst from SAX J1808.4-3658
    • 01 August 2019: EXO 1846-031 reawakens after 34-year silence
  • July
    • 25 July 2019: NICER's mission officially extended to 2022
    • 18 July 2019: NICER and NuSTAR simultaneously catch four X-ray bursts from 4U 1636-536
    • 11 July 2019: NICER's first neutron star radius measurement to be submitted soon
    • 04 July 2019: Dramatic changes in flaring behavior in only 15 minutes
  • June
    • 27 June 2019: NICER puts a magnifying glass on a rare outburst from an accreting pulsar
    • 20 June 2019: Observations of X-ray variability used to map accretion disk in Fairall 9
    • 13 June 2019: NICER X-rays the photosphere of a neutron star's companion
    • 06 June 2019: NICER teams up with OSIRIS-Rex for calibration study
  • May
    • 30 May 2019: NICER sees X-rays from star in another galaxy getting ripped apart
    • 23 May 2019: Rapid flare from GRS 1915+105 displays remarkable spectral features
    • 17 May 2019: Record-low flux reported for black-hole binary GRS 1915+105
    • 09 May 2019: Establishing IGR 17379-3747's large magnetic axis inclination
    • 02 May 2019: NICER evaluates X-ray environment near Sun-like stars
  • April
    • 25 April 2019: Swift J1858.6-0814: A rare, partially-obscured X-ray binary
    • 18 April 2019: NICER Observations of a Possible SN 1a: AT2019daj
    • 11 April 2019: NICER Observations of the Recurrent Black Hole Transient, XTE J1908+094
    • 04 April 2019: Follow-up of MAXI triggers provides new insight into transient events
  • March
    • 28 March 2019: State transition and radio flare in MAXI J1820+070
    • 21 March 2019: High visibility for NICER science at the March 2019 HEAD meeting
    • 14 March 2019: X-ray burst shows evidence of gravitational redshifting from neutron star
    • 07 March 2019: NICER takes part in a large multiwavelength campaign on Sco X-1
  • February
    • 28 February 2019: Scientific American heralds NICER's study of neutron star interiors
    • 21 February 2019: High-precision X-ray timing of three millisecond pulsars with NICER
    • 15 February 2019: A new outburst from magnetar XTE J1810-197
    • 07 February 2019: MAXI-triggered observations of stellar flares yield rapid NICER results
  • January
    • 31 January 2019: NICER follows up on a bonanza of MAXI-discovered Galactic black hole systems
    • 24 January 2019: Joint observations catch stellar flare from UX Ari from radio to X-rays
    • 17 January 2019: Combined X-ray data uncovers a new class of transient AGN flares
    • 10 January 2019: Nature magazine highlights NICER black hole result with cover story
    • 03 January 2019: NICER's data archive demonstrates its wide dynamic range

2018

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
    • 30 August 2018: NICER and NuSTAR jointly discover that IGR J17591-2342 is in a binary system
    • 16 August 2018: NICER discovers oscillatory nuclear burning in GS 1826-238
    • 09 August 2018: Space weather study guides background estimates for NICER data
    • 03 August 2018: Pulsar X-ray light curves give insight to key NICER science goal
  • July
  • June
    • 28 June 2018: NICER observes 4U 1630-47, a black hole with frequent outbursts
    • 21 June 2018: Joint NICER/GBM observations of the first Galactic ULX pulsar
    • 15 June 2018: X-ray emission line reveals warped disk in MAXI J1535-571
    • 07 June 2018: NICER observes unusual variability in GRS 1915+105
    • 01 June 2018: NICER detects a soft X-ray kilohertz QPO in 4U 0614+09
  • May
    • 24 May 2018: Target of Opportunity observations of new transient ASASSN-18el
    • 17 May 2018: NICER/NuSTAR joint fit helps clarify spectrum of MAXI J1535-571
    • 10 May 2018: A NICER look at the Aql X-1 hard state
    • 03 May 2018: PhD thesis discovers QPO in NICER data of MAXI J1535-571
  • April
    • 26 April 2018: Pulsar and orbital periodicities discovered in IGR J17062-6143
    • 19 April 2018: NICER detects multiple "reflection" features in the low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1
    • 12 April 2018: NICER discovers a new pulsar in IGR J17379-3747
    • 05 April 2018: NICER sees an accreting millisecond pulsar
  • March
    • 29 March 2018: Using observations during slew periods for opportunity science
    • 22 March 2018: Quasi-periodic oscillation detected in new transient MAXI 1820+070
    • 16 March 2018: Oscillations detected in the rise phase of a Type I X-ray burst
    • 09 March 2018: SEXTANT program improves its XNAV capabilities
    • 01 March 2018: NICER detects changes in magnetar 1E 1048.9-5937
  • February
  • January
    • 23 January 2018: Intensity changes in the observed pulsed flux from Swift J0243.6+6124
    • 18 January 2018: PSR J0030+0451 pulsations as seen by XMM-Newton and NICER
    • 12 January 2018: Millisecond pulsar detected for the first time in X-rays

2017